Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled onto his side, breathing hard and heavy.
Too spent to talk, Keira snuggled close. She traced a finger over the hard muscles on his chest.
Brock gave a low chuckle that she felt vibrate against her chest. “Going to sleep on me?”
“Hmm…”
He kissed her forehead. “Be right back.” She grabbed for him, but he slipped from the bed. Body lazy and her mind empty, Keira lay in the rumpled sheets. A warm, wet cloth brushed over her thigh. He turned her and wiped her off.
“Nice,” she muttered. And it was.
He slipped back into bed next to her, laying his leg over hers, the coarse hairs tickling. “We still need to talk.”
Keira gave a groan. “No, we really don’t. I take care of my own protection.” She pried open one eye. “Do you think you’d be a good dad? I ever have a kid, I am going to make damn sure my child is loved and cared for.”
He smoothed her hair back. “Kids? Where’d that mind of yours go to now?”
“Sleep. Dreams,” Keira muttered. She curled up tighter against his warmth.
Chapter 10
Brock was gone when Keira awoke. The pillow next to her still smelled like him. She put her face into it and breathed in deeply. Her bed smelled like sex, too, and now she wondered if that had been the entire point of last night. Was the sex just part of their cover? Well, she’d had worse excuses to jump into bed with a guy.
Throwing off the covers, she headed into the bathroom for a hot shower. She needed to wash Brock off of her and get her head back in the game. She found a few aches where she hadn’t had them before, and it was hard to keep a smile off of her face. So what if last night had just been part of their cover? It’d been a great night. No matter what happened next, she’d cling to that memory.
Pulling on a thick, white terrycloth robe, she padded back to the bed across the deep carpets and pulled out the employee folder. She went through it page by page, but nothing stood out. Backgrounds seemed normal, nothing stood out as a red flag—no family ties to the rebels, no bad habits. It looked as if Maela screened everyone who worked here before they showed up, and that Talib had rechecked everyone again just recently. The guy knew his job.
Keira headed to the windows and glanced out. Another day in paradise, she thought. Blue skies, bright sun, lush gardens. The air smelled dry today, and the sun burned with a heat you didn’t get in other parts of the world. The only problem was that this paradise might have a snake in it.
Pulling on underwear, shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals, Keira headed downstairs for coffee. She found food set out in the dining room, on a long sideboard in chafing dishes with small oil lamps under them to keep things warm. She lifted a few lids, saw the usual eggs and bacon, and some dishes she wouldn’t have been able to name, but which carried the lush aromas of spices.
A stack of pastries that looked as if they’d pack on five pounds with one bite sat under a glass dome. She helped herself to black coffee. Taking her coffee onto the stone terrace, she glimpsed PJ and Talib walking through the garden. They didn’t see her and she stepped back into the shadows, watching them. Talib took hold of PJ’s hand and kissed the back of it—then he leaned in and kissed her.
A pang shot through Keira. She looked away. She wasn’t jealous of PJ having Talib, but she was envious of their obvious closeness. Her act with Brock wasn’t the same thing. Once this job ended, they’d go their separate ways. Off to another job. For once, her pulse didn’t quicken at the idea. She’d sworn she wouldn’t have any regrets, but now one was staring at her—she’d regret having to give up Brock. Which meant she was going to work this cover for all she could get out of it. If they only had a short time, why not make the most of it?
She drank her coffee and headed off to find Brock.
He wasn’t in his room, and she wonde
red if he was checking out the security feeds. She’d glimpsed the cameras in all of the public rooms—beautifully hidden behind carved wood; but every camera needed a view, which meant you could spot them if you knew what to look for in the places that gave the best view of the room.
She ran across Maela, dressing down a couple of upstairs maids. She had no idea what the poor girls had done, but Maela seemed to be verbally stripping off their hides for some misstep. Maela saw her, cut off her sharp rebuke, and dismissed the girls. She paused beside Keira. “The young—more interested in gossiping than working.”
She gave Keira a challenging stare, as if defying her to deny such a thing. What, did Maela think Keira was lazy, too? Keira straightened, too aware she’d done nothing to give this woman a good impression of her. But, then, her job was to look spoilt and lazy. She slumped again. “Don’t tell me they’ve been eyeing my boyfriend. If they have, they deserve what they got.”
Maela’s eyes narrowed. She turned and left. Keira stared after her. Maela seemed to think this palace was hers to run, and maybe it was. But was that a good thing?
Since she couldn’t find Brock, Keira took a swim. She ate lunch with Erin, PJ, and Shira—the sheikh had been called into the city for several meetings and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Keira used the time to do a little gossiping of her own. She also kept an eye on the staff who served them.
Lunch, unlike dinner, was informal. A buffet was spread out on the terrace. Guests came and went. Maela scowled at Erin’s choices of food and had something special brought out from the kitchen. Erin only picked at it, and Keira leaned close to her. “Morning sickness?”
Erin’s cheeks pinked. “Morning, noon, and some of the night. I’m hoping it’ll pass soon.”
Keira nodded. “I had a friend—hit her the same way. First three months were misery, but the rest of her time, she had more energy. And the best skin you’ve ever seen on anyone. She loved having bigger boobs, too.”
Erin grinned. “That part I could live with.”
PJ turned the conversation to plans for some online shopping that afternoon, but Erin bowed out. She had a charity meeting to attend.